Seven Russians killed in South Ossetia explosion

Seven Russian peacekeepers and two others were killed Friday in a car bomb explosion in the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali, reported The New York Times.
The explosion occurred six days before a scheduled pullback of Russian troops from Georgian territory, heightening tensions in the separatist region.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Russian peacekeepers in an ethnic Georgian village stopped two cars Friday carrying firearms and grenades, detaining four men without documents. While the cars were being searched, one exploded, killing two of the detained men and wounding eight others.
European Union monitors began patrolling the so-called "buffer zone" outside South Ossetia on Wednesday, following the ceasefire agreement between President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and Russia.
President Eduard Kokoity of South Ossetia said he had "no doubt" that Georgian special forces were responsible for the explosion. Kokoity said that these actions "undermine international efforts to stabalize the situation and torpedo the Medvedev-Sarkozy plan."